The day before the Springboks downed the All Blacks in Mbombela captain Siya Kolisi and assistant coach Mzwandile Stick got comfortable behind a desk set adjacent a tranquil botanical garden.
It was their now customary prematch media conference in which members of the Bok group get one last opportunity to reach for clichés in response to the banalities emanating from the other side of the table.
Stick, a little unsolicited, went down an avenue that doesn’t have well-marked exits. With all manner of recording devices in front of him he chose to bring the murky subject of rugby’s world rankings into the prematch debate.
“Probably in the next three games you will be able to tell who will be the best team in the world,” said the assistant coach matter of factly. “A lot of people talk about the northern hemisphere teams being the best in the world. They are at the end of their season and have played probably five games more than us. Over the next four weeks the log will change, which is something we don’t normally stress about, but there has been a lot of hype out there that the All Blacks are not the best team in the world and that the Springboks are not the best team in the world.
“In the next three, four weeks things will change and a southern hemisphere side will be the best side in the world,” he predicted.
Of course much of what Stick said was premised on Springbok success over the All Blacks. Indeed, victory in Mbombela richly contributed to Stick’s prophecy, but the Springboks fluffed their lines at Ellis Park and missed out on the opportunity to go into second place above France. That would have left them less than a quarter of a point off Ireland.
His prediction is in peril as the Boks play back-to-back Tests in Australia starting this weekend. Going into this weekend's fixtures Ireland (90.03) lead the pack closely followed by France (89.41), while SA (87.78) in third hold a slender advantage over New Zealand (87.76).
The quirks of the ranking system aside, what it has provided in recent times is a clear, undisputed team at the top of the world game.
Given their poor record on Australian soil over most of the past decade, the Springboks’ prospects of advancing their tally is far slimmer than the All Blacks, who meet Argentina in Christchurch.
The rankings are based on the so-called points exchange system. Teams take points off each other based on the match result. Whatever one side gains, the other loses. The exchanges are based on the match result, the relative strength of each team, and the margin of victory, and there is an allowance for home advantage.
The quirks of the ranking system aside, what it has provided in recent times is a clear, undisputed team at the top of the world game.
New Zealand have been the perennial pacesetters, but they have slipped in recent years with the Springboks taking command of the top spot after the last Rugby World Cup. They held that position through lockdown even after other nations resumed hostilities.
What it has created over the past two or so years is a power vacuum at the top of the world order. Ireland have done well to get themselves to top spot, and while the ranking system favours form, critics will argue they have not won major silverware since 2018 when they held the Six Nations trophy aloft.
Sure, they beat the All Blacks in a Test series in New Zealand, but the team that is yet to play in a RWC semifinal and habitually fluffs its lines when widely contested silverware is on offer. France won the most recent Six Nations and they too inflicted a chastening defeat on the All Blacks in recent times. They have not been beaten in more than a year. The Springboks’ 11 wins and seven defeats since their RWC glory is not exactly the kind of return for a team that lays serious claim to being the best in the world.
In fact, as much as they’ve been on a slippery slope, the All Blacks have a better record since the last RWC. The All Blacks have won 17, lost eight and drawn once since the RWC which gives them a 65 win percentage. The Springboks are undisputed holders of the Rugby World Cup, but the mantle of the best team in the world weighs increasingly heavy.
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